Page:A selection of war lyrics with illustrations on wood.djvu/34

WAR LYRICS. Alas! our beautiful keen bow,

That in the fiercest blast

So gently folded back the seas,

They hardly felt we passed!

Alas! alas! my Cumberland,

That ne'er knew grief before,

To be so gored, to feel so deep

The tusk of that sea-boar!

Once more she backward drew a space,

Once more our side she rent;

Then, in the wantonness of hate,

Her broadside through us sent.

The dead and dying round us lay,

But our foemen lay abeam;

Her open port-holes maddened us;

We fired with shout and scream.

We felt our vessel settling fast,

We knew our time was brief.

Ho! man the pumps, the pumps!" but they who worked,

And fought not, wept with grief.

Oh! keep us but an hour afloat!

Oh! give us only time

To mete upon the traitors' heads

The measure of their crime!"

From captain down to powder-boy

No hand was idle then;

Two soldiers, but by chance aboard,

Fought on like sailor-men.

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